Herpetophobia
by theslytherineprincess
Summary: One Shot. You are a second year Slytherin at Hogwarts and coincidentally you are afraid of snakes. Occurs during Chamber of Secrets. Draco Malfoy x Reader. Please Read and Review! Thank you!


**You are a second year Slytherin at Hogwarts and coincidentally you are afraid of snakes. Occurs during Chamber of Secrets. I got inspiration for this when I was sorted into Slytherin on Pottermore and all other sorting quizzes and I thought how ironic it was considering I hate snakes. I do not own Harry Potter the genius behind it all is J.K. Rowling.**

You were sitting in the common room talking to your friend, (f/n) when you hear Malfoy and his crew walk in through the dungeon entrance. Immediately Crabbe and Goyle start shouting to everyone in the common room that the chamber had been opened. Of course you had heard about the Chamber. All Slytherins heard of the tale of the Chamber of Secrets, but unlike others you thought it was only a myth.

"(f/n)! Do you think it's true? I always thought the Chamber was just a myth told to first year Slytherins to freak them out!"

"(y/n), you know as well as I do that Malfoy's gang, especially Crabbe and Goyle, like to stir up trouble. They're probably just bluffing."

"Now that's where you are wrong, Half-Blood. We saw it with our own eyes." Draco Malfoy. You have hated him since first year when you were both sorted into Slytherin. He became this ignorant asshole surrounded by his little posse that seemingly made fun of everyone that wasn't an exact copy of him. You two used to be best friends when you were little, since both of you came from wealthy pureblooded families, but as soon as first year hit he became a different person. Occasionally you will see the old Draco come out of his cold exterior but it's always once in a blue moon.

"And why should we believe you Draco. You're the ring leader of all of them. How do we know you're not just trying to get attention?" you said as he walked towards you.

"Oh, (y/n). Why would I vie for attention when all the attention I need is yours? And it seems that I already have it." He reached for your face to make you look at him but you pushed his hand away before it reached its destination. He was a little playboy when he wanted to be and you hated him for that, but you will admit that you have had a little crush on him ever since you were younger. Of course, that was before he had a little attitude change.

"Malfoy, you have never and will never have my attention. Why don't you go back and join your little friends? At least there people will actually listen to what you are saying. Or at least pretend to." You turned around and continued to talk to (f/n), when you saw out of the corner of your eye that Draco was walking away. That'll show him. Right?

A couple of days later, you and the Golden Trio were walking towards potions class. People in Slytherin always made fun of you for hanging out with Gryffindors, your arch rivals, but they never understood why, in fact, you were friends with the Trio. At first the Trio was wary of you, considering you were a Slytherin, but once they saw you meant no harm and were one of the kinder Slytherin they immediately opened to the idea of being friends with you. Harry and Ron were like brothers to you and Hermoine like a sister.

Anyways, you were walking towards potions discussing this new spell you had learned when you saw a snake rush out in front of you. Of course you let out one of the loudest and more girlish of your screams while you rushed to hide behind Harry, your closest form of protection. After your mind cleared itself of your fear, you could hear laughing coming from in front of you. When you turned to look you could see Malfoy's posse sitting at one of the windows in the hallway that look out into the courtyard.

"We were trying to catch a Gryffindor with that spell, but we never imagined we would catch a Slytherin!" Draco said albeit shakily whilst still laughing. You were seething the nerve he had to pull something like that. Even when you were kids you had hated snakes and he knew that. What a pompous ass! You walked up to him and slapped him across the face. You may have been one of the nice Slytherins but when you were mad you should never be crossed.

Harry moved beside you and took you by the elbow to lead you away from the scene of the crime while Malfoy sat there with a hand on the cheek that you had slapped and an astonished look on his face.

"Come on, (y/n). Let's go," Harry said.

The next incident happened back in the Slytherin common room where Malfoy's posse had assimilated a collection of fake snakes and were waving them around in your face. Draco sat in the corner looking seemingly bored whilst this was occurring. Finally you had had enough and you headed towards the hallway that would lead you to your bedroom when you spotted Draco look up at you from his spot. You looked at him with a mix of anger and sadness letting him know that this time he crossed the line. Draco had always pulled pranks on you, (f/n), and the Golden Trio but you knew that he would never directly attack you for there was still the old Draco left inside him. Now you weren't so sure.

Halfway through the night you left the comfort of your bed and headed down to the common room, for once again you couldn't seem to stay asleep. Sometimes on these nights you would look out the windows of the common room into the Great Lake and watch the mermaids and aquatic life swim around. It calmed you at put you at ease on nights like this. One time though you accidentally fell asleep while watching and were woken up by (f/n) telling you that you missed breakfast and were going to be late for class if you didn't hurry up. Let's just say you never made that mistake again.

While looking out the dungeon windows, you were startled by movement beside you and the added weight that became evident on the couch you were sitting on. Before you could look to the right you heard a voice pipe up.

"(y/n), I'm really sorry for what has happened today. I forgot that you were scared of snakes and I didn't know that they were going to do that when you came in. I really hope you can forgive me; I truly was only trying to scare Potter, Weasley, and that Mudblood."

"Draco, I accept your apology but that doesn't mean we are back to being friends like we were when we were kids. You've changed. We're strangers now and I don't think I like this new you."

"It's an act. I don't always like being rude to others but I feel pressure from my father and the older Slytherins. I'm not exactly able to be myself around others as easily as you are. I constantly feel as though I'm under this pressure to act a certain way that I will be punished if I don't. I'm sorry if I can't be the friend you want me to be anymore, but I will try."

All of a sudden you heard this loud rustling and hissing come from one of the other sections of the dungeon. You immediately jump and throw yourself to Draco, burying your head into his chest and clenching your fists into his shirt.

"What was that?" you ask.

"(y/n), do you remember a few days ago when Crabbe and Goyle came into the common room and began talking about the Chamber of Secrets?" he said while wrapping his arms around you and pulling you closer to him, feeling your body trembling against him.

"Yeah?"

"Well the Chamber is real and the basilisk that lies inside it is real too. I guess some of those stories the older Slytherins told us on the first night of first year are actually true." You let out a little laugh at this, trying to calm down but still shaking with fear.

"Hey, Draco?"

"Yeah, (y/n)?" He tilts his head down in order to look at you while you look up at him.

"I've really missed you." You once again bury your face in his chest.

"I've missed you too. More than you could ever know." The last part was a whisper and he thought you didn't hear it.

There was another hiss, this one sounding more sinister like than the last. You once again clenched you fists tighter in Draco's shirt and buried your face deeper into his chest. He pulled you closer to him and kissed the top of your head.

"Don't worry, (n/n). I'll protect you. Always."

You had your old Draco back. Even if only for a night. He was with you… and he was back.

 **Please Review! I love to hear what you all have to say. Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you liked it and I promise there with be more soon. Thank you!**

 **(y/n)= your name**

 **(f/n)= friend's name**

 **(n/n)= nickname**


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